Swaddler

ABSTRACT

A swaddler for babies which is formed of a cellular laminate of transparent plastic sheet material, the sheet material being folded upon itself to form a bag and the material having an integral extension projecting from the opening of the bag, the extension being adapted to be wrapped about the head of a baby lying within the bag to form a hood for the baby.

United States Patent Sutherland 1 Jan. 25, 1972 [54] SWADDLER 3,034,1325/1962 Landsberger et al.

' 3,098,563 7/1963 [72] Inventor: James M. Sutherland, The Chlldrens 99010/1967 Hospital Research Foundation, Elland and 3,412,410 1 1/1963Bethesda, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229 3,513,970 5/1970 Eckholm ..2l7/53 2 970[22] Filed Feb 1 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay [21] App]. No.: 7,456Assistant Examiner--Darrell Marquette Att0rneyWood, Herron and Evans[52] U.S. Cl ..2/69.5, 5/343 51 Int. Cl. ..A4ld 3/00 [57] ABSTRACT Fieldof Search 1/139, 146-14 A swaddler for babies which is formed ofacellular laminate of 1 /2 2/ 32 transparent plastic sheet material, thesheet material being folded upon itself to form a bag and the materialhaving an in- [56] References Cited tegral extension projecting from theopening of the bag, the extension being adapted to be wrapped about thehead of a UNITED STATES PATENTS baby lying within the bag to form a hoodfor the baby.

2,675,552 4/l954 Jackson 2/695 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJANZS i972 INVENTOR. 5M \Ell BY 1 A MAML 5 5mm m-roRNsYs SWADDLER Thisinvention relates to a swaddler for newborn babies and moreparticularly, the invention is directed to a transparent plasticinsulated bag adapted to receive the baby and maintain its temperatureduring periods of cold stress such as, for example, the first few hoursafter birth or other times when a baby might be exposed to a coldenvironment such as during transfer from one hospital to another.

Keeping babies warm immediately following birth has been a problem for along period of time. Unless the infant is protected against the chillingeffects of being born into an airconditioned delivery room, the rectaltemperature of a newborn baby will fall at approximately 0.2 Fahrenheitper minute and the skin temperature will fall at approximately 0.5Fahrenheit per minute for periods during the first 30 minutes followingbirth. Thus, if no care is given to keeping the baby warm its deep(rectal) temperature might fall as many as 46 Fahrenheit in the firsthour or so. Since it has been observed that a babys chances for survivalare measurably improved if kept warm after birth, ordinarily steps aretaken to keep the babies warm by wrapping the babies in flannelblankets, placing them in incubators or by exposing them to radiantheat. A recent proposal has been to place the baby in a Silver Swaddlerwhich is a bag of plastic material having a thin layer of aluminumlaminated to the inside.

An objective of the present invention has been to provide a swaddler forinfants which will greatly reduce the drop in temperature of a newbornbaby and which will provide other important advantages over existingpractices as will appear below. More specifically, the inventionprovides a swaddler consisting of a bag formed of a plastic materialsuch as polyethylene, which is a laminate of two or more sheets, thesheets being joined together over selected areas in such a way as toprovide multiple gas-filled cells or bubbles throughout the majorportion of the surface of the material. The bag preferably has anextension which can conveniently be wrapped about a projecting head of ababy so as to assist in keeping the head warm, the head being asignificant portion of the body surface and hence, an important area ofheat loss. The bag is preferably transparent and relatively easily tornfor reasons which will appear below.

Two advantages are derived from the cellular laminate. First, thecellular structure gives the bag a certain structural rigidity which isnot found in thin plastic films. The structural rigidity assistsmaterially in the act of placing the baby inside the swaddler andprecludes the possibility of asphyxiation from conforming too closely tothe babys face. Further, the cellular structure appears to materiallyincrease the insulative quality of the bag in maintaining thetemperature of the baby. Still further, the irregular surface of the toassists in providing The transparency of the bag is a desirable featurein that it keeps the entire baby visible at all times during thiscritical portion of the babys life. Further, the transparent nature ofthe bag coupled with its rupturability, enables the attending nurse orphysician to have ready access to any portion of the babys body foroperations such as taking of blood specimens from the fingers or toes,clamping the umbilical cord, giving the baby injections and the like.

The several features of the invention will become more readily apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the invention showing a baby swaddledwithin the bag,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the material from which the bag is formed, and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating the cellularmaterial from which the bat is formed.

Referring first to FIG. 2, the bag is formed of a sheet of cellularmaterial to be described in detail below, the sheet being L-shaped toprovide a first panel 11, a second plan 12 and a hood forming extensionor flap 13. The flap 13 preferably has a pressure-sensitive adhesive orcomparable securing medium such as fasteners, along the line indicatedat 14 at its free edge. The bag is fonned simply by folding the panel 12along the fold line 15 onto the panel 11 and sealing along the adjacentfree edges. The sealing along the edges indicated at 16 and 17 in FIG. 1can be conventionally done as by heat sealing or any other suitablemeans. 1 attach no critical importance to the shape of the material fromwhich the bag is fabricated. It can be rectangular as well as L-shaped.Alternatively, the bag could be formed from two sheets sealed alongtheir adjacent edges.

In this manner the bag is formed and is ready to receive the newbornbaby. The bag receives the baby immediately following its birth or withother anticipated cold stress, simply by introducing the baby into thebag through an opening 18 which is formed after the edges 16 and 17 aresealed. Usually, the baby's head, indicated at 19, will project slightlyfrom the opening. The major portion can be enclosed by the bag simply byfolding the free edge of the hood forming extension upon itself from thebroken line positionindicated at 20 to the fold line position indicatedat 21. The pressure-sensitive adhesive will then hold the adjacent freeedges together to form the hood. Alternatively, other securing meanscould be employed as, for example, staples along the adjacent free edgesof the hood-forming extension, tapes, clamps, clips or alternatively,the hood could be preformed. When the hood is preformed, it is simplyfolded back to expose the opening thereby permitting an infant to beconveniently inserted in the bag.

The material from which the bag is formed is illustrated in FIG. 3 andconsists of a laminate of a planar sheet 25 and a bubbled or pocketedsheet 26, both sheets preferably being of a transparent rupturablematerial such as polyethylene. This material has been manufactured underthe trademark Air Cap by the Sealed Air Corporation of Hawthorne, NJ.The films 25 and 26 are laminated as by heat sealing at the areasindicated at 27 so as to form cells 28 which are filled with gas,preferably air. The cells are generally hemispherical as shown and,depending upon room temperature, the entrapped air maintains the cellsin fairly firm condition. Further, the combined effect of the two filmsand the entrapped air lends considerable structural rigidity orstability to the sheets.

While it is not absolutely critical, it is preferred that the laminatebe folded upon itself so as to bring the planar sheet 25 to the insideof the bag leaving the bubbled sheet 26 on the outside of the bag. Thebubbled exterior surface of the bag provides a very satisfactory surfacefor gripping the bag and the baby swaddled within to minimize theswaddled baby slipping out of the hands of a nurse.

The commercial forms of the laminate have different sizes of bubbles andI attach no criticality to the size or shape of the cells. In theillustrated embodiment, the bubbles are generally hemispherical, are 1inch in diameter and are spaced approximately one-sixteenth of an inchfrom each other, that is, the cells are on l-l/I6 inch centers. A bagwhich is 12 inches wide, 16 inches long and has a 6-inch wide hoodforming flap or extension has proved satisfactory.

The bag of the present invention is particularly useful in swaddling anude baby immediately following birth and maintaining the baby swaddledfor at least 1 hour and perhaps up to 6 hours. The first hour isparticularly critical and thereafter the baby starts compensating bygenerating its own heat. The bag is also useful in keeping a baby warmduring transportation between hospitals or departments in a hospital.

lclaim:

l. A swaddler for newborn babies comprising a bag of insulative plasticsheet material,

said bag being open at one end to receive a baby,

said plastic material being a tearable, transparent laminate of at leasttwo thin sheets joined together over selected areas to form gas-filledcells over the major portion of said laminate,

whereby the insulative quality of said cellular laminate greatly reducesheat loss from a newborn baby, its structural rigidity facilitateshandling of the bag and insertion of the baby into the bag, itstransparent quality permits observation of the baby and its tearabilitypermits access to and manipulation of the anatomy of the baby with aminimum of exposure to ambient air.

2. A swaddler according to claim 1 in which the inside sheet of said bagis generally planar and the outside sheet is bubbled to form said cells.

3. A swaddler according to claim 1 further comprising,

a hood forming extension of a portion of said bag projecting beyond thebag opening, said extension being adapted to be wrapped about a baby'shead when the baby is in said bag.

4. A swaddler according to claim 1 in which said bag is formed from asingle sheet folded upon itself and sealed along two edges to form saidbag, and a hood-forming extension projecting from said opening andintegral with one side of said bag.

5. A swaddler according to claim 3, and a pressure-sensitive securingmedium along the free edge of said extension to permit said free edge tobe folded upon itself and joined to form a hood about the head of ababy.

6. The method of handling a newborn baby comprising the steps of,

placing the baby into a plastic bag fonned from a cellular laminate ofplastic material,

forming a hood of said material about the head of the baby leaving onlythe face exposed,

tearing the bag to form an opening adjacent a portion of the baby'sbody,

and performing a manipulation on the baby through said opening.

* t i t k UNITED STATES PATENT CFFECE CERTIFECATE 6F CGRECEWN Patent No.3,63'6L566 Dated Januar 25; 1W2

lnventor(s) mes Pi. Sutherland It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 51, after of the, delete to" and insert bag Column 1,line 52, after a, insert grip on the swaddled baby thereby minimizingthe possibility of accidents due to. slipping and the like.

Column 1, line 69, delete "bat" and insert bag Column 1, line 72, delete"plan" and insert panel Signed and sealed this. 22nd dayof August 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

ROBERT GOT'ISCHALK EDWARD MJFLETCHERJJR.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer USCOMM-DC 60376-Pt 1 us.GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I969 O-36l-S F ORM PO-105O (10-69)

1. A swaddler for newborn babies comprising a bag of insulative plasticsheet material, said bag being open at one end to receive a baby, saidplastic material being a tearable, transparent laminate of at least twothin sheets joined together over selected areas to form gas-filled cellsover the major portion of said laminate whereby the insulative qualityof said cellular laminate greatly reduces heat loss from a newborn baby,its structural rigidity facilitates handling of the bag and insertion ofthe baby into the bag, its transparent quality permits observation ofthe baby and its tearability permits access to and manipulation of theanatomy of the baby with a minimum of exposure to ambient air.
 2. Aswaddler according to claim 1 in which the inside sheet of said bag isgenerally planar and the outside sheet is bubbled to form said cells. 3.A swaddler according to claim 1 further comprising, a hood formingextension of a portion of said bag projecting beyond the bag opening,said extension being adapted to be wrapped about a baby''s head when thebaby is in said bag.
 4. A swaddler according to claim 1 in which saidbag is formed from a single sheet folded upon itself and sealed alongtwo edges to form said bag, and a hood-forming extension projecting fromsaid opening and integral with one side of said bag.
 5. A swaddleraccording to claim 3, and a pressure-sensitive securing medium along thefree edge of said extension to permit said free edge to be folded uponitself and joined to form a hood about the head of a baby.
 6. The methodof handling a newborn baby comprising the steps of, placing the babyinto a plastic bag formed from a cellular laminate of plastic material,forming a hood of said material about the head of the baby leaving onlythe face exposed, tearing the bag to form an opening adjacent a portionof the baby''s body, and performing a manipulation on the baby throughsaid opening.